Menu

What the “Young Girl with Serpent” by Rodin Teaches Us

Rodin Young Girl with Serpent, 1886

Young Girl with Serpent (1886) by Auguste Rodin was stolen from a Beverly Hills home in 1991, in addition to over $1 million worth of property including an additional Rodin sculpture, The Eternal Spring . The case had gone unsolved for over 20 years until 2011, when the statue estimated to be worth around $100,000 was consigned to Christie’s London. An investigation was launched and the unnamed wife of the original owner was notified of the discovery. After four years of legal wrangling with the consignor, the negotiations have finally been completed and the statue has been returned. However after the long wait for answers and legal battle, the owner will now auction off Young Girl with Serpent themselves to offset the insurance costs.

This brings up two interesting questions. The first is was the legal battle worth it? If the original owners had insurance on the work then their insurance company would have paid them the value of the piece after the robbery and they would have been ineligible to claim the work in a court. Or if they wanted to claim the artwork then they would have had to reimburse the insurance company for the original value claimed at the time of the initial loss. If they did not have insurance on the work then they were free to pursue, but given the legal fees and their lack of finance to now own such a piece, was the money and time spent regaining the property just to resell it really worth all that, well they thought so.

However it also brings up the question of when is art no longer art? The battle over ownership was never about the sentimental value of the work or what it held to each owner, but rather the monetary gains. It was simply an object to sell to benefit them and their needs which is understandable as art is an investment, but the whole reason behind purchasing art is because it speaks to you. When purchasing art you should always feel a connection to it because you need to enjoy what you buy since the longer you own it, the more it will increase in value.

I guess that is what is fascinating about the art world, is that an artwork can fluctuate between many labels from commodity to priceless to rare to stunning to ugly and can fall within them throughout its lifetime. But if there is a lesson to take away from all of this, it is to always insure your art, no matter how you may think of it.

Member

Get In Touch!

Social Media

Privacy Policy. Our gallery is located in the beautiful Oakland Hills of the San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA.

Raisonne Title

Artist

< ?php the_field('artist_name'); ?>

Title:

< ?php the_title(); ?>

< ?php if (get_field('reference') !="") { ?>

Reference

< ?php the_field('reference');?>

< ?php } ?>

Medium:

< ?php the_field('medium'); ?>

< ?php if (get_field('dimension') != "") { ?>

Sheet Size

< ?php the_field('dimension'); ?>

< ?php } ?>

< ?php if (get_field('edition') != "") { ?>

Edition

< ?php the_field('edition'); ?>

< ?php } ?>

< ?php if (get_field('series') != "") { ?>

Series

< ?php the_field('series'); ?>

< ?php } ?>

< ?php if (get_field('printer') != "") { ?>

Printer

< ?php the_field('printer'); ?>

< ?php } ?>

< ?php if (get_field('publisher') != "") { ?>

Publisher

< ?php the_field('publisher'); ?>

< ?php } ?>

< ?php if (get_field('style') != "") { ?>

Style

< ?php the_field('style'); ?>

< ?php } ?>

x

Inquire

To inquire about this particular artwork,
please fill out the following form:

Name*

FirstLast

Email*

Message*

CAPTCHA

Phone

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

x

Shipping Informatoin

Custom Packing and Insured Shipping
Expert custom packaging and insured shipping guarantees the safety of your work and the security of your investment while in transit.
We typically ship using FedEx, as they assume full insurance for door-to-door transit of your artwork. We charge actual shipping and insurance costs, plus the cost of the packing materials. We never charge a handling fee. Feel free to contact us for shipping quotes. Should you opt to use a shipper other than FedEx, we ask that you please notify us prior to shipping. Please note: shipments to California residents are subject to local sales tax.